The Curse
by Awahili
Summary: Troy and Gabriella, as newcomers to the theater scene, must be informed of a certain curse, lest they doom everyone involved. Set just after HSM 1


Set during the first _High School Musical_. Just a quick shout-out to fellow thespians, because this topic is just a ton of fun to explain to newbies. And this totally would have come up at some point (I think I got "the talk" as a freshman walking onto the stage for the first time).

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Everything was going right in Gabriella Montez's life. She had wonderful friends, a loving boyfriend, she'd won the scholastic decathlon, and her mother had promised they wouldn't be moving until she graduated next year. Right now they were in the middle of rehearsals for the Winter Musical, _Twinkle Towne_, and she was sitting at the piano listening to Kelsi's newest masterpiece. Ryan and Sharpay had retreated to a corner to lick their wounds at having been relegated to understudies in their precious theater, but Gabriella could see them out of the corner of her eye going over the dance steps again.

The stage doors opened and Troy burst through, his bag loaded down with books from various classes. He waved at Ms. Darbus in the audience as he approached the piano quickly.

"Sorry I'm late," he called out. "Ms. Fletcher had me stay after to discuss my junior paper."

"Oh yeah?" Gabriella's interest was piqued. Their English teacher had assigned them each a well-known play, and they were supposed to dissect it and present an in-depth twelve page paper on plot, history, and the like.

"What did you get?" Troy asked as he stowed his bag next to hers beside the piano.

"_The Glass Menagerie_," Gabriella said with a dreamy look. "But it's so depressing at the end. What about you?"

"Huh? Oh, I got _MacBeth_," he said simply.

Suddenly, all activity in the theater stopped, and Gabriella could have sworn she heard Sharpay gasp audibly. Some set crewman dropped something in the shop, and it seemed like no one even breathed. Everyone was staring at Troy with horrified expressions, and he looked back at them dumbfounded.

"What did you just say?" Sharpay asked, dragging her brother over to where they were standing. "No!" she interrupted as Troy was about to repeat himself. "I just can't believe…you said…" Troy looked from Sharpay to Ryan, but both sported identical looks of shock.

"What's going on?" he tried to turn to Kelsi for some support, but she too was looking at him like he'd grown an extra head. Gabriella was as clueless as he was, and he just looked around at the stupefied crowd until Ms. Darbus' voice broke through.

"Mr. Bolton! You and Ms. Montez meet me in my classroom. Mr. and Ms. Evans, Ms. Nielsen, you as well." The three thespians scrambled off the stage to follow their teacher quickly.

"What's going on?" Troy repeated, but only Gabriella was around to hear.

"I have no idea, but I'm not sure it's a good thing. Come on, Wildcat," she grabbed his hand and together they walked toward their homeroom. When they entered Ms. Darbus was in her usual spot on her throne chair, and the three students were sitting on the steps in front of her.

"Okay, I have no idea what this is about," Troy started, "but it's officially freaking me out."

"You are here," Sharpay stood up and stomped toward them, "because you said…_that name_ in my theater!" she nearly screamed at them. Troy stared at her face, flushed with anger, and simply shook his head.

"Still got nothing," he told her. "Perhaps someone less emotional?" Kelsi stood up and stepped toward them, laying a hand on Sharpay's shoulder and drawing her back. Ryan accepted his distraught sister as Kelsi stepped closer to the newcomers.

"In the theater, there is a curse," she started. "It began when Shakespeare wrote the play," she said carefully. "There are many different rumors as to exactly how the curse was started, but everyone agrees that there _is_ a curse. To say the name of the Bard's play in a theater dooms the production to failure, and it may also result in bad luck for the person who says it." There was a moment of silence as Troy took in the information, then he started chuckling.

"Good one, guys," he laughed, and Gabriella joined him. Kelsi just shook her head and stepped back as Ms. Darbus stood up.

"I'm afraid everything Ms. Nielsen has said is true. You have cursed yourself and my production, and there is only one thing to do to cleanse yourself. You must stand outside the theater, spin around three times while brushing yourself off, then quote a Shakespearean line. You must then be invited back into the theater."

"Oh come on, Ms. D!"

"No, I will not budge on this. You must cleanse yourself before you step back into the sacred theater." She ushered them out the door and toward the theater, stopping only to make sure Troy did exactly as she told him. The other four students entered the theater and stood just inside the door to watch.

"Spin three times while brushing yourself off," Ms. Darbus instructed. Troy looked at Gabriella for help, but she just shrugged. He sighed deeply and began rotating slowly while making a show of knocking invisible dirt from his pants and shirt. When he completed his third turn Ms. Darbus nodded.

"Now, a quote please," she demanded, but Troy threw his hands up.

"I don't know any Shakespeare!" he admitted.

"'Angels and ministers of grace defend us,'" Kelsi said quietly. "_Hamlet_, act one, scene four."

"'If we shadows have offended,'" Ryan added. "_Midsummer Night's Dream_, act five, scene two."

"'Fair thoughts and happy hours attend on you.'" This from Sharpay. "_Merchant of Venice_, act three, scene four." Troy back and forth from his teacher to his friends before he ran a hand over his face in frustration.

" 'If we shadows have offended,'" he deadpanned. "Can I come back in now?" Ms. Darbus looked at her thespians, who looked at each other thoughtfully, as if having a silent conversation among themselves.

"You may enter," Sharpay said simply before turning on her heel and marching back to the stage, Ryan and Kelsi in tow. Troy stepped through the door tentatively, as if he expected the row of lights to crash down on him.

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it Mr. Bolton?" Ms. Darbus brushed past them as Gabriella tried to hide her giggles.

"What's so funny?" Troy asked as they followed her up to the stage.

"That was cute," she admitted. "I never pegged you as the superstitious kind."

"Oh come on, I don't believe in the curse, but they wouldn't stop riding me!"

"Oh yeah? Then go ahead Mr. Fate-tempter…say it again…I dare you." Troy looked from Gabriella to the stage, then back to the door.

"You know, just in case? I'd better not. Wouldn't want to bring the wrath of Sharpay down on me again. She's scarier than any curse."

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Okay, so anyone who doesn't know the curse of MacBeth, google it. This popped into my head and I wanted to write it down. Hope you enjoyed.


End file.
